The Stewart Family
by Herbblade
Summary: John comes home for a nice evening with his family, only to find out that the good days really are gone. He ponders his wife and children, when his wife inturrupts him and sets him straight. HGGL fluff, a several OCs and some pairings.


The Stewart Family

John comes home for a nice evening with his family, only to find out that the good days really are gone. He ponders his children and his wife, when she interrupts and sets him straight. GLHG-fluff, several OC pairs.

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Thanagarians are born to fly. The simple joy of flight intoxicates them practically from birth, when their parents deem them strong enough, and take them up for their first experience in the sky.

And so, knowing as much as he did about Thanagarian customs, John should have known from the first moment he went flying with Shayera (at her side instead of in her arms, but her mastery was acknowledged all the same) that they'd rub off on him eventually.

Thanagarians were also a warrior race, and Shayera had been weaker than the newborn Lisa. When she'd asked him to take the baby out for her first flight, John had realized two things.

The first was that they were sticking with two children. Not only was four-year-old Rex turning out to be a handful, and now Lisa would doubtlessly be one as well, but two half-Thanagarians would be enough for any parents.

The second was that he might as well be half-Thanagarian himself. He didn't realize this until he was pulling mid-air maneuvers and listening to Lisa giggle away, but when he did, it didn't faze him as much he would have thought.

_I'm getting old,_ John thought ruefully as he left the office, slipping on his Green Lantern ring and taking off for home. He was officially on the Corps retirement plan but his ring was still useful for dodging traffic. _I haven't been this sentimental since Rex graduated high school._

That had been a bad day for him. Lisa's would be worse, but she was still four months away from graduating, so John could put it off. Except, of course, when memories of flying came back in full force.

Shaking his head, John avoided a particularly tall building. His house was outside the city, in one of the greener parts of Detroit, granted to him by the city when Shayera had announced she was pregnant with Rex. It had been a definite perk of that pregnancy.

Not that Rex lived there anymore. He had gone to New York City, to learn engineering and be closer to his sweetheart, Cora Wayne. If asked about his young son's relationship with one of the billionaire twins, John would merely say that he had no response.

It had certainly taken the boy too many hints from Lisa and Chloe, Cora's twin, to realize what was going on.

But Rex was visiting, along with Chloe, who had been flying in an out over her weekends and evenings, avoiding college guys wanting to ask her out until the one she wanted to got a clue. Cora would be coming in a couple weeks, and then the twins would drag Lisa to Minnesota and the re-vamped Mall of America over Spring Break.

John sighed. It was almost a blessing that Lisa couldn't fly. There was already enough air traffic around his house. John finally arrived home, and found Rex on his way out, fully dressed as WarHawk. He paused, and took his helmet off to face his father, green eyes flashing in the evening light just like his Nth metal armor.

"Headed off for patrol?" John asked, letting go of his ideas of having another male in the house. Now it was him, his wife and daughter, and Chloe.

Rex hesitated. "Not exactly. I'm going to help Cora test a new design for Javelins," he said, referring to the inventor's continual quest for an indestructible ship. "I'll be back in a few days, after I help her and let my boss know

Merely nodding, John landed and watched his son take off into the sky. As he watched, Chloe appeared in the doorway. She nodded at him when he noticed her and said, "Shayera's getting take-out. The oven may or may not have exploded."

With years of practice, John didn't ask. Instead, he changed the subject. "And where's Lisa?"

Snorting, Chloe held in a laugh and said, "She's been on the phone in her room for at least an hour. Even through the oven exploding. Either Tom's coming over or he got another lead on his sewer story."

Tom Kent had been Lisa's best friend since childhood, and was rapidly becoming one of John's least favorite people. He shouldn't have been a problem, living in Metropolis on the East Coast and working for the _Daily Planet_ (he was less than a year out of high school, so his saving were next to nothing), except he was Superman's son. All of the Kents had inherited their father's speed, flight, and physical strength. Tom, the oldest, could fly half way across the country in about an hour. Half if he was in a hurry, which he obviously wasn't if he was talking on the phone.

John frowned. He and Chloe went inside, and he went to sit on the couch and sulk over his suspicions while the Wayne girl went and tried to pick Lisa's door lock. John didn't notice the fading light as the winter night closed in until the door opened. Expecting Tom, he looked up sharply, only to see an amused Shayera.

"Having fun?" she asked, laughing. She was carrying boxes of pizza, so John forgave her amusement. She thought that Tom and Lisa should develop their relationship anyway, so she would be no help.

As if on cue, Lisa came barreling down the stairs, shoving her phone into her jeans pocket and grabbing a jacket. Her brown hair was pulled back, exposing her tawny eyes, which were bright with excitement as she grabbed a piece of pizza and ate it quickly.

Noticing her parents' glances, she finished her pizza slice and put her jacket on. "Tom's coming over, we're going to go hang out in the park of something."

"Put something thicker on," was all Shayera said as she helped herself to the pizza.

Entering the kitchen at a reasonable pace, Chloe snorted and took some food for herself. "It's not that cold. And anyway, Tom is like furnace."

John glared at the table, not wanting to annoy either of the women but very annoyed. Shayera laughed at him, and Chloe looked outside. It was a Friday night, so she would probably stay over and leave in the morning.

Interrupting the silence, Chloe's phone let out a cheery jingle, and she ignored it after checking who the call was from.

Thoughtfully, Shayera said, "You might as well talk to them. They can't be all bad, and maybe the other boy will fall for the jealousy trap."

"Not likely," Chloe said. "Anyway, I don't want a relationship bad enough I'd try that yet. Ask me in May and we'll see."

Sighing, John said nothing once again. Did the other married men from the League suffer this kind of unusual abuse? Did Thanagarian husbands?

Later, he was sitting on the couch again, reading the paper in a leisurely manner when Shayera sat down next to him.

In her straightforward way, she started bluntly. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing. I'm just being nostalgic."

"About what?" she asked incredulously. Obviously the idea of nostalgia hadn't occurred to her yet.

He had been afraid of that, but he continued anyways. "Our house is like a rest stop. Rex comes back when he needs to, Lisa's busy with something, and half of her friends fly in and out of here so often they think they live here, too."

"That's the thing," Shayera said plainly. "It'll still be this way after Lisa graduates, and after they get married, and when we have super-powered grandchildren running around. We'll never be empty-nesters. You're just missing the times when you could sit Rex and Lisa down and tell them stories."

"And what if I am?"

She sighed and nestled into his side before saying, "You just need a new audience. Try telling Jon, Allen or Connor. Or Carolyn or Claire might listen to you. And Lisa will always be interested, with how much she still likes the stories." She yawned. "You just have to get them to sit down."

"Fine," John said, rubbing the base of his finger where his ring used to rest. Now, to keep his energy use low, the ring stayed off except when in use, but he could still almost feel its weight. Maybe he would wear it some time when Rex and Lisa were both back, as an attention grabber. His bright green eyes would be a definite question-creator.

As a young man he wouldn't have liked that one bit, but maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, if it would keep his kids in the house for one night.

And then, after that, some peace and quiet might not be too bad.

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Yay, I'm alive…

That's basically what this was for. To prove I'm alive.

OK, explanation: these are my original characters from a (much, much) longer story that I write to get rid of writer's block. In it, though, most of the heroes we know and love from the TV are dead and gone, leaving their kids to carry on the legacy. Various moral and villain-caused troubles ensue.

This was basically my idea of how they could have been, if the whole death-thing hadn't happened. It would be pretty nice, but fairly boring. Hence why I used John's POV; he's more interesting in this situation.

Seriously, if you made it this far, you might as well review. It's fun, I swear!


End file.
